t his lasso ready. But just as the little fellow was
about to tell his sister to let the calf loose, along came Uncle Frank
and he saw what was going on.

"Oh, my, Teddy!" cried the ranchman. "You mustn't do that, Curlytop! The
little calf might fall and break a leg. Wait until you get bigger before
you try to lasso anything that's alive. Come on, we'll have other fun
than this. I'm going to drive into town and you Curlytops can come with
me."

So the calf was put back in the stable, and Teddy gave up lassoing for
that day. He and Jan had fun riding to town with Uncle Frank, who bought
them some sticks of peppermint candy.

Baby William had his own fun on the ranch. His mother took care of him
most of the time, leaving Janet and Teddy to do as they pleased. She
wanted them to learn to ride, and she knew they could not do it and take
care of their little brother.

But Trouble had his own ways of having fun. He often watched Teddy
throwing the lasso, and one afternoon, when Ted had finished with his
rope and left it lying on a bench near the house, Trouble picked up the
noose.

"Me lasso, too," he said to himself.

Just what he did no one knew, but not long after Teddy had laid aside
the lariat, as the lasso is sometimes called, loud squawks, crowings and
cackles from the chicken yard were heard.

"What in the world can be the matter with my hens?" cried Aunt Millie.

Ted and Janet ran out to see. What they saw made them want to laugh, but
they did not like to do it.

Trouble had lassoed the big rooster!

CHAPTER XII

THE BUCKING BRONCO

With a small rope around the neck of the crowing rooster--which could
not crow as loudly as it had before, because it was nearly
choked--Trouble was dragging the fowl along after him as he ran across
the yard.

"Trouble! Trouble!" cried Aunt Millie. "What are you doing?"

"Playin' cowboy!" was his answer. "I lasso rooster wif my rope, like
Teddy catches post."

"Oh, you mustn't do that!" cried Aunt Millie, as she ran after the small
boy and the dragging rooster.

"Cock-a doodle-do!" crowed the rooster, or, rather, it tried to crow
that way, but it would get only about half of it out and then Trouble
would pull the rope tight about the fowl's neck and the crow would be
shut off suddenly.

[Illustration: TROUBLE HAD LASSOED THE BIG ROOSTER!
_The Curlytops at Uncle Frank's Ranch_ _Page 139_]

"Gid-dap, pony!" cried Baby William, trotting along on